WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 110112

In Northern California, the Shasta County Board of Education will earn a $1.3 million settlement meant to recompense them for the loss of a 163-acre camp which was destroyed by the Ponderosa Fire this summer (1); while Oregon-based PacifiCorp will have to pay $1.22 million in wildfire damages for a 2009 blaze ignited near Happy Camp, California, when a tree fell on their power lines (2); and in preparation for future fire seasons, US Forest Service is conducting controlled burns along the southern portion of Lake Tahoe (3). A realtor from western Washington state gives a tip of the hat to firefighters for saving structures threatened by wildfires this summer (4). A letter to the editor in Flagstaff, Arizona, argues favorably for a bond issue that would replant areas burned by wildfires to prevent future flooding (5); while Gila National Forest fire crews are conducting a series of controlled burns north of Silver City, New Mexico (6); this at a time when US Forest Service is treating 1,365 acres across that state to reduce fuel loads (7). Wildfire activity in southern Colorado is the focus of the next article (8); where the Vallecito Fire has grown to 459 acres in size (9). After a busy summer, Montana recorded 2,116 wildfires which scorched 1.1 million acres and cost $113 million to suppress (10). The arrival of rainstorms across Kentucky are helping to extinguish wildfires that have been burning there (11); while the nation's first medical office which qualifies as a "Fortified for Safer Business" establishment, designating it as being able to withstand wildfires among other natural disasters, has opened in Florence, South Carolina (12). At a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Bali, Indonesia, the ministers agreed to form a technical task force to develop a ground and forest fire monitoring platform for the region (13). Quick work by Australian firefighters knocked down a bushfire which forced evacuations in Ravenshoe, Queensland (14); while a member of Parliament advised North West Queensland producers to file Individually Disaster Stricken Property paperwork to cover bushfire losses (15). A bushfire scorched 200 ha north of Sydney, New South Wales (16); while arson investigators are looking into the origins of a bushfire that blazed through Ramornie National Park late last month (17); and with 3,000 bushfires so far this year in that state, police are afraid that arsonists may help create a Black Saturday-like scenario in which massive bushfires killed dozens of people (18); all of which is prompting Rural Fire Service to hold town meetings to discuss ways to prepare for bushfires (19). South Australia's Country Fire Service reiterated the need for property owners to be prepared for bushfires as part of Bushfire Action Week (20); while a Department of Environment and Conservation firefighter who was severely burned in a bushfire outside of Albany, Western Australia, has succumbed to her injuries (21). And finally, firefighters in Florida are helping dying vets' dreams of visiting the World War II Memorial in Washington DC come true!

(1) Board gets $1.3M for burned Camp Latieze; settlement to fund student programs

(2) Pacificorp pays $1.22 million for wild fire damages

(3) Prescribed fires continue Thursday

(4) Selfless firefighters protect everyone’s property

(5) Fighting floods with bonds a wise vote

(6) Prescribed fire north of Silver City hitting goals

(7) Smoke Update: Prescribed burns, forest fire

(8) As forest fires burn, danger high for more to start

(9) Forest Service urging fire safety

(10) Montana wildfires burn most acreage since 1910; $113M spent to battle blazes

(11) Rainfall Helps Extinguish Wildfires

(12) First fortified medical office in US opening doors

(13) Five Asean Nations Agree To Monitor Fires, Smoke

(14) Evacuation alert lifted in north Qld

(15) Fire-affected? Request an IDSP assessment

(16) Bushfire threatens properties north of Sydney

(17) Arson suspected in bushfire

(18) Fears of a NSW Black Saturday

(19) Western NSW prepares for bushfire hazard

(20) Residents urged to be bushfire ready

(21) Burnt firefighter dies after two week battle

(22) Tequesta firefighters gather to raise money for Honor Flights